Monday, April 14, 2014

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith Kindle Edition, 352 pagesPublished April 15th 2014 by Little, Brown for Young Readers ARC from EdelweissGoodreads| Amazon| B & N | TBD

Lucy and Owen meet somewhere between the tenth and eleventh floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they're rescued, they spend a single night together, wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is restored, so is reality. Lucy soon moves to Edinburgh with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father.

Lucy and Owen's relationship plays out across the globe as they stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and -- finally -- a reunion in the city where they first met.

A carefully charted map of a long-distance relationship, Jennifer E. Smith's new novel shows that the center of the world isn't necessarily a place. It can be a person, too.

I used to think that YA contemporary did not have real depth and considered it as mere fluff. But after giving this popular genre a go this year, I found so many cute stories that are hard to resist.The Geography of You and Me is a fine example of that. It's short, sweet and simple plot is not for everyone but for those looking for a light read then this might just be for you. Lucy's and Owen's romance is not instantaneous and while some will dismissed the encounter on their apartment's rooftop as not romantic enough, I really like the chemistry between those two. The way they instantly click and the funny conversations they had with each other is the real attraction here. And it is sad to see two people so made for each other are forced to separate because time and fate are just not on their side.Because you see after their first meeting, Lucy had to travel all the way to Paris and later to Edinburgh when her father was offered a job there. While Owen's dad who was fired from his job decided to go for a road trip. And Owen being the good son that he is, decided to joined his dad since he's worried that his dad is depressed due to the fact that his mom just died.And although they were reunited once again in San Francisco, the situations are not ideal and they were forced to part again. Despite the fact that both of them did try to have relationships with other people, consequently in the end fate intertwines them back again. The ending is just so- so sweet in my opinion. Although the characters are far from perfect, they are definitely perfect for each other.